Mississippi digs in to turn around dropout rate

11:18 AM,
Oct. 14, 2012

Written by

MARQUITA BROWN
The Clarion-Ledger

JACKSON, Miss. -- If even half of the almost 3,000 students who dropped out of school in Mississippi in 2010-11 had not, their combined future earning potential would have been about $13.4 million a year.

The higher income would mean more tax dollars for the state. The high school graduates would be more likely to have children who graduate from high school, helping erode the cycle of poverty in the nation's poorest state.

Dropouts also are more likely to have to rely on government assistance for food, shelter and health care and to commit crimes, according to the Alliance for Excellent ...